Fuel injection valves



April 1966 G. N. BEDDOES ETAL 3,

FUEL INJECTION VALVES Filed Dec. 2, 1963 lnveniors 6N Bedoaes C. F.Lloyd v y M 5 firneys 3,247,833 FUEL lNJEC'lION VALVES Gerald N. Beddoesand Carl F. Lloyd, Leamington Spa, England, assignors to AssociatedEngineering Limited, Leamington Spa, England, a British company FiledDec. 2, 1363, Ser. No. 327,188 (Ilaims priority, application GreatBritain, Dec. 3, 1962, 45,630/62 8 Claims. (Cl. 12332) The presentinvention relates to fuel injection valves for internal combustionengines.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedconstruction of fuel injection valve, which may be of theelectro-magnetically operated type, which can be fitted to or removedfrom an engine without disturbing the fuel supply line. From one aspectthe present invention consists in a fuel injection valve having a valvebody part which is adapted to be received within a cavity in an enginewhich has a fuel feed passage opening into said cavity, wherein saidvalve body is so constructed that when it is located in position in saidcavity a path is provided for the flow of fuel from said passage to thefuel valve contained in said body part and the arrangement is such thatsaid valve can be removed from said cavity without the necessity ofmechanically disturbing the fuel supply line. From another aspect theinvention consists in a fuel injection valve having a valve body partwhich is adapted to be received within a cavity in an engine whereinsaid part of the body is provided with at least one aperture in itsouter surface through which fuel can be fed to the valve.

The invention also consists in an internal combustion engineincorporating at least one fuel injection valve having a valve body partlocated within a cavity in the en ine wherein said valve body part isprovided with at least one aperture in its outer surface whichcommunicates with at least one passage provided in a wall of the engineand opening into said cavity, so that fuel fed through said at least onepassage passes through said at least one aperture to the valve.

According to a preferred form of the invention, the fuel injection valveis electro-magnetically operated by means of a solenoid attached to theupper part of the valve body whose energisation controls the opening andclosing of the valve. The solenoid is formed as a separate assemblywhich is secured to the upper end of the valve body, for example bymeans of a screw connection, so that it can be readily removed to acordaccess to or replacement of the valve, and likewise can be readilyreplaced with another solenoid assembly if necessary.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, an embodimentthereof will now be described by way of example, with reference to theaccompanying drawing which is a cross-sectional diagram of oneembodiment of electro-magnetically operated fuel injection valveaccording to this invention.

Referring to the drawing, the fuel injection valve as shown mountedwithin a cavity 1 provided in the wall 2 of the air inlet manifold of aninternal combustion engine. The valve comprises a valve body portion 3,at the upper end of which is mounted a solenoid assembly consisting of acoil 5 wound on a core 5a. The coil and core assembly are containedwithin a housing 4 and are encapsulated in a synthetic resin material 6such as that known under the trademark Araldite. The solenoid assemblyis secured to the valve body 3 by means of the screw connection 7. Theelectrical connections to the solenoid are made by means of twoterminals 8, whereby they are independent of any electrical connectionto the casing of the engine and therefore do not rely upon an earth itedStates Patent C) 3,247,833 Patented Apr. 26, 1966 return path throughthe manifold and engine assembly.

The valve body 3 is screwed into the cavity 1 in the manifold at 9, anda packing washer or gasket it! is interposed between the shoulder 3a onthe valve body and the manifold wall 2. The valve body is provided witha bore 11 in which is located a valve stem 12 which is slidable in thebore and whose upper end is formed as an armature 13 which is attractedby the solenoid when it is energised. The armature is attracted againstthe action of a spring spider 14, surrounding the armature, whichnormally urges the armature away from the solenoid when the latter isde-energised. The outer periphery of the spider 14 is held by aretaining ring 15.

The valve stem 12 extends downwardly through the bore 11 and its lowerend is formed as a nozzle pin 16 which projects through a constantdiameter aperture 17 in the member 18. This member provides the valveseating 19 which is engaged by the seating surface 20 formed on the stem12 to form the fuel valve, which is closed when the two seating surfacesare in engagement. The nozzle pin 16 is of constant diameter and withthe constant diameter aperture 17 forms a nozzle metering device. Thetip of the nozzle pin 16 is shaped as shown at 21.

A plurality of apertures 22, for example three, are provided in a recessor gallery 23 extending around the valve body part 3 and communicatewith the bore 11. Sealing rings 24 are located in grooves in the valvebody part 3 both above and below the recess or gallery 23 in order toform fluid-tight joints. Fuel is fed to the valve through the passage 25provided in the manifold wall 2. This passage communicates with thegallery 23 and the apertures 22 so that the fuel passes into the bore 11and flows around the stem 12 of the valve. When the valve is opened byenergisation of the solenoid, the armature 13 is attracted against theaction of the spring 14, thereby causing the valve stem 12 to slideupwardly so separating the seating surfaces and allowing fuel to passout through the annular space 17 surrounding the nozzle pin.

As is shown at 26, the valve stem is hollow and apertures 27 areprovided through the wall of the stem so that fuel can also fiow throughthese apertures, up the central hollow portion of the stem to both sidesof the armature 13. This arrangement reduces pumping effects on the fuelwhen the valve is operated. 1

The calibration of the annular metering orifice 17 between the nozzlepin 16 and the wall of the aperture is dependent on the length/diameterratio of the orifice, the total orifice area and the base diameter ofthe pin. With these values correctly proportioned, the assembly providesa stable meter facility so long as the flow area at the valve is greaterthan the metering area considered in accordance with the relevantcoefficients of discharge and the operating pressures. The fuel thusmetered flows in a seemingly laminar manner along the nozzle pin untilit reaches the shaped end 21 at which atomization occurs.

It will be seen that with the construction according to the presentinvention, it is possible to insert an injection valve into and removeit from the engine without disturbing the fuel supply line, which is notdirectly connected to the valve, but is connected at 28 to the passage25 in the inlet manifold.

Thus the fuel supply line feeding the injection valve can be permanentlyattached to the air manifold and the connection does not have to bebroken when it is desired to change a fuel injection valve, thusreducing the possibility of leakage.

It will also be seen that the magnetic circuit comprising the solenoidcoil and its core forms a separate assembly from the valve stem andnozzle pin assembly.

Either of these assemblies can therefore easily be changed to suit therequirements of any particular engine.

Whilst a particular embodiment has been described, it will be understoodthat various modifications can be made without departing from the scopeof this invention. Thus, although the invention has been described asapplied to an electro-magnetically operated fuel injection valve, manyof its features may also be applied to valves operated by other means.Moreover, it is not essential that the body of the valve should bescrew-threaded into the cavity. It is sufiicient that the valve may beheld in position by means of a light pressure, such as a spring, sincethe presure in the air inlet manifold is never above atmosphericpressure.

It will also be understood that, in practice, a multicylinder internalcombustion engine will generally comprise a plurality of fuel injectionvalves, each of which may be constructed and arranged according to theinvention.

We claim:

l. A fuel injection valve havinga valve body provided with a bore andadapted to be received within a cavity in an engine, a valve stemslidable within the bore, a valve member including a part of the valvestem and operated by the movement of the valve stem, a recesssurrounding a portion of the valve body which is to be received in saidengine cavity, and located towards that end of the valve body whichsurrounds the valve member, at least one aperture extending from saidrecess into said bore to feed fuel from a fuel passage communicatingwith said cavity through said recess into said bore, sealing meanssurrounding said valve body on either side of said recess, an armatureat the end of said stem remote from said valve member, a solenoidconected to said valve body at its end remote from the valve memher forattracting said armature to open the valve and means operable on saidarmature against the attractive force of said solenoid to close thevalve.

2. A fuel injection valve as claimed in claim 1, in which the valvemember for controlling the flow of fuel comprises a seating surface onsaid stem which engages with a seating associated with the bore in whichthe stem slides in order to close the valve.

3. A fuel injection valve as claimed in claim 1, in which the valve stemis made hollow and -is provided with at least one opening through whichfuel can flow from the bore into the hollow stem in order to reduce thepumping effect on the fuel during the operation of the valve.

4. A fuel injection valve having a valve body provided with a bore andadapted to be received within a cavity in an engine, a valve stemslidable within the bore, a valve member including a part of the valvestem and operated by the movement of the valve stem, a recesssurrounding a portion of the valve body which is to be received in saidengine cavity and located towards that end of the valve body whichsurrounds the valve memher, at least one aperture extending from saidrecess into said bore to feed fuel from a fuel passage communicatingwith said cavity through said recess into said bore, sealing meanssurrounding said valve body on either side of said recess, an armatureat the end of said stem remote from said valve member, a solenoiddetachably connected to said valve body at its end remote from the valvemember for attracting said armature to open the valve, spring meansoperable on said armature against the attractive force of said solenoidto close the valve and electrical connections to said solenoid which areinsulated from the valve body.

5. A fuel injection valve having a valve body provided with a bore andadapted to be received within a cavity in an engine, a valve stemslidable within the bore, a valve member including a part of the valvestem and operated by the movement of the valve stem, a recesssurrounding a portion of the valve body which is to be received in saidengine cavity and located towards that end of the valve body whichsurrounds the valve member, at least one aperture extending from saidrecess into said bore to feed fuel from a fuel passage communicatingwith said cavity through said recess into said bore, sealing meanssurrounding said valve body on either side of said recess, a hollowportion within said stem, at least one aperture connecting this hollowportion to said bore, an armature at the end of said stem remote fromsaid valve member, a solenoid connected to said valve body at its endremote from the valve member for attracting said armature to open thevalve and means operable on said armature against the attractive forceof said solenoid to close the valve.

6. A fuel injection valve having a valve body provided with a bore andadapted to be received within a cavity in an engine, a valve stemslidable within the bore, a valve member including a part of the valvestem and operated by the movement of the valve stem, a recesssurrounding a portion of the valve body which is to be received in saidengine cavity and located towards that end of the valve body whichsurrounds the valve member, at least one aperture extending from saidrecess into said bore to feed fuel from a fuel passage communicatingwith said cavity through said recess into said bore, sealing meanssurrounding said valve body on either side of said recess, a hollowportion within said stem, at least one aperture connecting this hollowportion to said bore, an armature at the end of said stem remote fromsaid valve member, a solenoid detachably connected to said valve body atits end remote from the valve member for attracting said armature toopen the valve, spring means operable on said armature against theattractive force of said solenoid to close the valve and electricalconnections to said solenoid which are insulated from the valve body.

7. In an internal combustion engine having an inlet manifold, at leastone fuel injection valve having a valve body provided with a bore andadapted to be received within a cavity in said inlet manifold, a valvestem slid able within the bore, a valve member including a part of.

the valve stem and operated by the-movement of the valve stem, a recesssurrounding a portion of the valve body located in said cavity, saidrecess being located towards that end of the valve body which surroundsthe valve member, a fuel passage extending through the wall of saidmanifold to said recess, at least one aperture extending from saidrecess into said bore to feed fuel from said fuel passage through saidrecess into said bore, sealing means surrounding said valve body oneither side of said recess, an armature at the end of said stem remotefrom said valve member, a solenoid connected to said valve body at itsend remote from the valve member for attracting said armature to opensaid valve and means operable on said armature against the attractiveforce of said solenoid to close the valve.

8. In an internal combustion engine having an inlet manifold, at leastone fuel injection valve havig a valve body provided with a bore andadapted to be received Within a cavity in said inlet manifold, 11 valvestem slidable within the bore, a valve member including a part of thevalve stem and operated by the movement of the valve stem, a recesssurrounding a portion of the valve body located in said cavity, saidrecess being located towards that end of the valve body which surroundsthe valve member, a fuel passage extending through the wall of saidmanifold to said recess, at least one aperture extending from saidrecess into said bore to feed fuel from said fuel passage through saidrecess into said bore, sealing means surrounding said valve body oneither side of said recess, a hollow portion within said stem, at leastone aperture connecting this hollow portion to said bore, an armature atthe end of said stem remote from said valve member, a solenoiddetachably connected to said valve body at its end remote from the valvemember for attracting said armature to open said valve and meansoperating on References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTSWitzky 123-32 Lang 123-13910 Kapp et a1 123-32 Reiners 123-13910 6FOREIGN PATENTS 1,006,542 1/1952 France.

258,175 3/1913 Germany.

24,139 1911 Great Britain.

MARK NEWMAN, Primary Examiner. RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Examiner.

7. IN AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE HAVING AN INLET MANIFOLD, AT LEASTONE FUEL INJECTION VALVE HAVING A VALVE BODY PROVIDED WITH A BORE ANDADAPTED TO BE RECEIVED WITHIN A CAVITY IN SAID INLET MANIFOLD, A VALVESTEM SLIDABLE WITHIN THE BORE, A VALVE MEMBER INCLUDING A PART OF THEVALVE STEM AND OPERATED BY THE MOVEMENT OF THE VALVE STEM, A RECESSSURROUNDING A PORTION OF THE VALVE BODY LOCATED IN SAID CAVITY, SAIDRECESS BEING LOCATED TOWARDS THAT END OF THE VALVE BODY WHICH SURROUNDSTHE VALVE MEMBER, A FUEL PASSAGE EXTENDING THROUGH THE WALL OF SAIDMANIFOLD TO SAID RECESS, AT LEAST ONE APERTURE EX-